It is not too early to be planning for the autumn and before heading off for the summer break, have a look at a major event that is taking place in Helsinki in September.  The first World Summit on Digital Built Environment (WDBE 2018) opens its doors on 11 September.  The two day event will bring together international speakers from the construction and real estate sectors, including FIEC’s President Kjetil Tonning. The whole range of current and emerging digital technologies will be under the spotlight and organisers aim to encourage participants to consider the future of the built environment, which will be changed forever by digitalisation.

 

For the next long-term EU budget covering the period 2021-2027, the EU Commission proposes to further strengthen the Union’s social dimension with a renewed European Social Fund, called European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), and a strengthened and more effective European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).

The European Social Fund Plus, with a proposed budget of 101,2 Bln €, will be a more flexible and simpler version of the current ESF, merging a number of existing funds and programmes.
Pooling resources will allow the EU and Member States to provide more integrated and targeted support in response to the social and labour market challenges that Europe is facing.
The EGF, with a proposed budget of 1,6 Bln €, will be revised so that it can be used more effectively to support workers who have lost their jobs.
Currently, workers can only get support from the Fund when their dismissals are due to changing trade patterns or consequences of the financial and economic crisis. Under the new rules, other reasons for restructuring, such as automation, digitalisation and more, can be eligible for support, taking account of new challenges on the labour market.

The proposals related to ESF+ and the EGF are part of the overall Commission’s proposals for the long-term EU budget adopted on 2/5/2018, which can be accessed by clicking on the button below.